Tusk urges European Union to speed up work on blocking Nord Stream 2

Monday, November 13, 2017 1:00:00 PM

President of the European Council Donald Tusk has urged the EU countries to quickly draft legislation that could hinder the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project, reported Rzeczpospolita, citing the Polish Press Agency and a source in the EU.

Donald Tusk sent a letter to the leaders of the EU countries. Not all leaders have received the letter yet, so it has not currently been published; however, it is known that the message calls on the EU countries to take up draft revisions to the gas directive, which were proposed by the European Commission a few days ago, as soon as possible.

Brussels previously clarified that the rules should apply to all gas pipelines intended for the import of raw materials, including their offshore segments. Until now, the EU directives could not find an unambiguous explanation of how to treat segments in international waters. This opened up the possibility of different interpretations and the acceleration of Nord Stream 2.

Nord Stream 2 is a project to build a gas pipeline with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. Nord Stream 2’s route along the seabed is planned to be the same as that used by the first Nord Stream, which was launched in 2011. The two are also expected to share an entry point to the German gas transmission system in Greifswald. Earlier in November, the European Commission approved a proposal to extend the third energy package for Nord Stream 2.